Hello, I am new member(as you can see the subject). I am going to be honest, I sign up for this account because of the giveaways(its very generous). I am a high school senior(w00t last year). my main interests are security, and social engineering. (i came across this site long time a go because of http://www.ethicalhacker.net/content/category/2/41/2/ ) and i like information gathering.(maltego ftw!)

Welcome to the community, pizza1337! As Ketchup says, it's nice to see the next group of 'up-n-comers' taking the reins and learning the in's and out's of security. As you continue to learn and grow, please keep us informed of your progress, so that we can keep our eyes open for your work!

~ hayabusa ~

"All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved." - Sun Tzu, 'The Art of War'

Out of curiosity, where are you from? Does your high school offer any [advanced] computer courses or are you on your own?

Nope, They teach web design(html), adv web design(css, html), programming(java, vb.net), and thats all. everything i learned was from videos, forums, podcasts. our school security is very weak, since its my last year i have to do a project, so i will present all their problems, to help them.

pizza1337 wrote:Nope, They teach web design(html), adv web design(css, html), programming(java, vb.net), and thats all. everything i learned was from videos, forums, podcasts. our school security is very weak, since its my last year i have to do a project, so i will present all their problems, to help them.

Don't discount those courses, though, pizza1337. In fact, ask them plenty of questions there, if you take any of those, regarding 'secure' programming, and others. Make them think about the answers, and challenge them to help you get better, by offering you good information. Many pentests I deal with require knowledge of those languages and techniques to exploit / gather data from web-based sources. If you can get a good grip on those, at your age, and really understand them, it can take you far!

~ hayabusa ~

"All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved." - Sun Tzu, 'The Art of War'

Be sure to let your teacher/instructor know of your project plans before you do it. There are cases where students get in trouble for doing it without permission. Remember that the biggest diference between a crime and legal activity in hacking circles is permission.

Let us all know if you get pushback on your project idea. You now know where to get help if you need it. I'd even be willing to call your teacher if needed.

pizza1337 wrote:Nope, They teach web design(html), adv web design(css, html), programming(java, vb.net), and thats all. everything i learned was from videos, forums, podcasts. our school security is very weak, since its my last year i have to do a project, so i will present all their problems, to help them.

I agree with what hayabusa said in regards to those courses. And, that's far more than what was available in my high school. All we had was 'advanced computer technology' where we played some games, created custom levels using the editors that came with the game and used other random applications ...nothing really useful at all It would have been great to take a HTML/CSS or VB.net class in high school.

Agreed... we only had BASIC and PERL when I was in high school (PERL being an 'accelerated / AP course at that time.) The offerings your school has (and my former one does, now) are much more valuable to you, today. Don't get me wrong, both BASIC and PERL got me thinking in terms of programmatical syntaxes, etc, and PERL still comes in handy, now and then. But with the world on the web as much as it is, now, you'll find a LOT of use, in security, for knowledge from those courses you have available.

Best of luck, and go for it!

~ hayabusa ~

"All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved." - Sun Tzu, 'The Art of War'